Pakistan’s Afghan Gambit

Aryaman Bhatnagar

Wilson John

Pakistan's policy towards Afghanistan has long been perceived as being trecherous. It has sustained and hosted religious extremist groups to pursue its objectives in Afghanistan. However, this has, in part, been an outcome of the bilateral tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan shaped by their territorial, religious and ethnic divides. Both countries have attempted to play a destabilising role in the other while seeking to maximise their own benefits. For some time since 1979 this game shifted decisively in Pakistan's favour and is expected to do so even more post-2014. The continutation of support to terror groups in the region by Pakistan will pose one of the biggest challenges to the prospects of peace & stability in Afghanistan, and to India's interests in the region. However, as Pakistan itseld deals with multiple problems on the socio-economic, political and security fronts, its Afghan policy post-2014 is likely to factor in these internal challenges as well. This volume seeks to explore Pakistan's policy towards Afghanistan, especiall post-the US intervention of 2001. It will examine the internal and external compulsions that have shaped Pakistan's goals and strategis vis-a-vis Afghanistan; the landscape of terror Pakistan has spawned for over three decades; and the possible fallout of the US troops withdrawal on Pakistan and its sponsored proxies. The volume, in conclusion, examines the impact of the changing situation on India and some of the serious challenges on the horizon.